James 'DexX' Dominguez

Every well-crafted video game has the potential to inspire a short-lived addiction in its players.

Some games, however, are more addictive than others, games designed in such a way that they seem to encourage obsessive behaviour. The following is a list of 10 of the most addictive games ever.

Dark Souls - This series of infamously difficult games has inspired deep devotion among those few who have the patience to learn its secrets and overcome its challenges. The thrill of overcoming its extremely challenging battles is so addictive for some that they will place restrictions on the equipment they allow themselves, just to make it even harder.

Advertisement

Diablo - The third entry in this classic action/role-playing series continued its tradition for extremely addictive game mechanics. Players find themselves in an endless loop of equipping powerful new items, going out to test them in battle, and having their defeated foes drop even better items.

Candy Crush Saga - When a free game is earning almost a million dollars a day, you know it must have some deeply addictive gameplay. In the case of Candy Crush, one of the most popular mobile phone games in the world at the moment, one trick is that it gives players limited turns: when they run out, they either have to wait half an hour, or pay to play again immediately.

Words With Friends - Another addictive mobile game, Words With Friends encourages players to challenge their friends and family to join in its not-quite-Scrabble gameplay. A dedicated player can have dozens of games running at once, and spend hours a day keeping up with them, and every time a game ends it is all too easy to click the button to start a new one.

The Elder Scrolls - The sprawling fantasy worlds of the Elder Scrolls series, seen most recently in its fifth entry Skyrim, are famous for their endless distractions. While a player may intend to walk straight to a nearby city and not get sidetracked, it is almost impossible to ignore the random battles, enticing caves, bandit camps, and other things that appear along the way.

Minecraft - Perhaps the most addictive thing about the indie smash hit Minecraft is that it never ends: this is a game in which players literally make their own world to play in. Every game is unique, and players can mine minerals and harvest forests in order to build almost any structure they can imagine.

World of Tanks - Like many free-to-play titles, World of Tanks keeps players interested (and earns a lot of money) by giving out a slow drip feed of rewards. Obtaining the best tanks in the game requires many hundreds of hours of dedicated play, though the wait can be sped up considerably by spending a bit of real-world money. It is also a lot of fun to play, which makes it even more addictive.

League of Legends - Another ostensibly free game, League of Legends has become notorious for obsessive players losing huge amounts of real-world money buying in-game items to boost their performance. One self-described addict anonymously shared his story with us last year, confessing to spending thousands of dollars that he kept secret from his fiancee.

2048 - This one is particularly dangerous for the easily addicted, because it is completely free and can be played in a web browser. The concept is very simple: slide numbered tiles, with identical tiles joining together and adding up to a higher number. 1, 2, 4, and 8 add up ultimately to 2048, but getting there is extremely challenging. Many players will play over and over again for hours, determined not to give up until they hit that mythical number.

Civilization - The original was released in 1991, and for more than two decades this series has been keeping players up many hours past their bedtime, vowing that they would stop after "just one more turn". Now up to its fifth iteration, it is still as sleep-destroying as it has ever been. Growing from a Stone Age tribe to a modern international superpower is a compelling experience, and it is awfully hard to put it down.

63 comments

I have to agree with Civilization, although, it can sometimes take days (sometimes years) to complete some maps.. depends on how hell-bent you are on taking over the world.

Commenter

Luke

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

May 14, 2014, 3:40PM

I don't know, I hated WoW but that is different for everyone. I just think that game is over-rated.

Civ on the other hand is one heck of an addiction. The new expansions didn't help me manage this issue either. Civ 5 all the way.

For an all time favorite though, Age of Empires 2. Old as it may be it is one of the best RTS there is.

Commenter

Pomato

Date and time

May 15, 2014, 9:38AM

DayZ should be added to the list once v1.0 of the standalone is released. Totally agree with War Thunder.

I would personally add Prison Architect and Payday 2 to this list.

Commenter

Grimzentide

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

May 15, 2014, 10:50AM

@Pomato - Yeah, in comparison to other MMO's out there, I tend to agree. There's one that has just gone into Alpha testing that's predominately played by Koreans and Russians (Cut scenes are in Korean) that's basically sandbox, but I cant recall its name. I played it for around 30 minutes and enjoyed it, but the bugs killed my experience. I'll just have to wait until Beta testing... same goes for DayZ standalone.

The new expansions for Civ 5 made it a whole lot more interesting didn't it? You certainly do need to pay more attention to diplomacy.

Commenter

Luke

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

May 15, 2014, 4:15PM

@Grimzentide - I've never played Prison Architect, but I have heard of it and it does sound interesting... I played Payday2 until I reached level 95+ and got sick of repeating the same levels over and over.. I'm sure there have been new levels available for download, but I have just been too engrossed in different types/styles.

I'm waiting for someone to release a strategy game that isn't turn based.. Total Annihilation did it for me back in the day and others have tried since with Supreme Commander 1 & 2, but I just cannot capture that same experience as I did playing TA. On the other hand, Planetary Annihilation looks pretty sweet, but I won't go getting my hopes up.

Commenter

Luke

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

May 15, 2014, 4:23PM

World of Warcraft. Levelling up one's character, "just to the next level so I can get that piece of armour or that ability/spell", "just one more quick level for that mount", "I'll just open up this area of the map", "I'll just do this one raid/dungeon/instance, then bed" and ultimately "why does the clock say 3:47am? I'm sure it was only 9:30pm ten minutes ago. Oh well, early bed tomorrow night". Rinse, repeat.

Commenter

Jez

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

May 14, 2014, 3:41PM

WOW. I can't believe anyone can discuss addictive games and not mention World Of Warcraft.

Commenter

blizzard

Date and time

May 14, 2014, 3:50PM

Absolutely WoW -Most dominant MMO ever. Log on or fall behind - people play even when they hate it just so they don't fall behind.

Commenter

James

Date and time

May 15, 2014, 8:44AM

Agree with Civilization being on the list it's my game of choice now for all of the scheming you do, you'll tell yourself 'just one more turn' even if it's 2am in the morning. The most addictive game I've come across by far is World of Warcraft though- it has the neverending appeal of Minecraft combined with increased social pressure, as you need to work together with other real people to progress at end-game content and cop shiny new gear, that is until they release the subsequent update and you do the same thing all over again. I usually get sucked back in at the release of a new expansion but I've just grown bored of it now, if I played an MMO again I'd probably give ESO a try.

Commenter

the truth

Date and time

May 14, 2014, 3:58PM

Before WoW ..before LoL .. before Elder Scrolls .. actually before just about everything .. the original "most addictive game" "Everquest" .. released in 1999 and still going strong today 15 years later. It's the MMO that all other are judged by.